


All we need is an audience

by trbjihoon



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Horseback Riding, Lots of Crying, M/M, Modern Royalty, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-04
Updated: 2018-06-04
Packaged: 2019-05-18 01:54:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14843381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trbjihoon/pseuds/trbjihoon
Summary: Soonyoung hates how Jihoon lives his life, and maybe he rathers not seeing Jihoon at all. Until he starts to watch Jihoon horse-riding outside of school hours and Soonyoung joins him.Alternatively: Soonyoung realises his feelings for Jihoon.





	All we need is an audience

**Author's Note:**

> i strayed off from the original modern royalty theme but i kiiiiinda attempted to make them sound princely enough so I APOLOGISE once again for bad writing. ( proofread but not really )))
> 
> the 'all we need is the audience to follow the account' meme is still ringing in my head so . that's my title for now /shrugs/

Soonyoung smooths out the creases in his white blouse, as he enters the room. Friendly calls of greetings are thrown at him, the prince smiling brightly at the familiar faces.

Moving down the rows of seats to his usual spot, Soonyoung spots the small-framed male, black hair tousled and fingers full of bandages.

He chooses to ignore the other and slides into his own seat, a sense of distaste still bubbling in his stomach.

The male turns around to pass off what seems like a glare before turning back to his work.

“Lee Jihoon!” Seungcheol squeezes into the shorter male’s seat, arm swinging around his shoulders. When Seungcheol notices Soonyoung staring, he gives an uncomfortable glance as Soonyoung hurriedly turns away.

___

 

Etiquette lesson commences with the professor strutting into the room, her nose pointed high in confidence. Soonyoung doesn’t enjoy this class as much as the others since he finds the lessons redundant but he chooses to respect the school’s decision.

However, the short male who had been glaring at him previously now stands up, his fingers grabbing his items on the table. The bandages hang onto him like loose thread and Soonyoung notices how the other winces when the heavy weight of his books are supported by his hands.

“Lee Jihoon! Where do you think you’re going?” The teacher questions, white chalk already in her palm.

Contrary to his usual, Jihoon whispers out a faint ‘the nurse’s’ before he shows the teacher his permission pass.

Soonyoung peers at Seungcheol in confusion but all he sees is the elder doodling in his notebook and the teacher just proceeds with the lesson.

Jihoon normally ignores the teacher’s question and curtly leaves the room as soon as she enters, but he was being oddly quiet and obedient today.

Soonyoung feels a tug of worry pull at his chest but he ignores the bugging feeling. He hates Jihoon too much to bother.

___

Soonyoung and Jihoon had been enrolled into this school around the same time, so they are in the same classes throughout all the years they have been attending the school.

Belonging to one of the most prestigious royal families, Soonyoung is deeply respected by many and he makes every effort to participate in lessons, as his parents brought him up to always remember his morals.

He is the Crown Prince that is going to take over the throne soon and he feels like he is carrying the entire world on his shoulders when his father becomes too sick and is bed-ridden.

On the other hand, Soonyoung takes note of Jihoon many times. The shorter skipping lessons whenever he wants, coming to school with bruises dotting across his arms and not appropriately following the code of royalty.

Jihoon never presented himself well, hair always a messy mop on his head and wearing torn and tattered shirts to school. Soonyoung used to pester him about his conduct in school but when he finally realises Jihoon just won’t change, the prince began to grow a sense of dislike towards the male.

Soonyoung never really knew about Jihoon’s family roots and neither did rest of the school. So, Soonyoung really doubts that Jihoon is royalty at all. The guy can’t seem to be bothered about others’ thinking of him… so Soonyoung just can’t seem to taking a liking towards Jihoon.

___

Soonyoung eats a mouthful of rice as he stares, amused, at Seungkwan who was texting and smiling at his phone. The younger continues to send a few more messages before sipping on the milk in his hand.

“Who are you texting?” The elder asks, spoon positioned on the table, bowl already empty.

Seungkwan musters out a pained grin before full-on blushing, shoving his phone too close to Soonyoung’s face. The male pushes the device further away, eyes following the overly sweet messages to and fro.

“Hansol from that super respected family?” Rolling the unfamiliar name on his tongue, Soonyoung waits for Seungkwan’s response.

“Yeah, we hit it off really well during summer camp. I’ve met his parents too, they’re wonderful people.” Seungkwan shuts off his phone and slots it into his pocket.

Teasingly raising his brows, Soonyoung walks alongside with Seungkwan to his next class before bading goodbye. He happens to go by the Nurse’s office and he curiously stares through the transparent door to see Jihoon burying his head in his hands. His bandages is replaced with newer ones and before the male could turn up to realise that Soonyoung was there, Soonyoung immediately stumbles to his next class.

___

When the day of lessons had ended with Wonwoo and Junhui nudging Soonyoung when he gets complimented by their teacher for writing an exemplary speech. Copies of his scrawly handwriting is passed around the class and everyone receives a copy of it, Jihoon’s copy conveniently slotted under his desk. 

His friends retire back to their boarding rooms for the night while Soonyoung visits the school garden, drawing book in hand and pencil set in the other. He appreciates how the garden still looks magnificent even that late into the night.

Soonyoung picks up his pencil, eyes already fixated on the statue he had been trying to draw the previous night. The focus in him immediately brings his hand to the paper surface and soon after, he is finishing up the sketch of the object.

Closing the book and looking at the clock on the school building, he realises that it was already nearing midnight. Soonyoung dusts off the stray eraser dusts on his book and he stares off at the stables. He becomes aware of a figure running to the stables, a soft neigh sounding from the area.

Soonyoung jogs off towards the stables, heart palpitating as he stares at the figure patting the horse. Faint cooing can be heard while the person unlocks the horse from its pen. Shocked, Soonyoung immediately runs into the open, his vision locked on the stranger who seemed like he was abducting the best horse of the school.

The figure blinks back at him, the familiar black orbs that Soonyoung wasn’t used to looking at. He grimaced at the male standing in front of him, eyebrows furrowed in disapproval.

“Isn’t riding the horses without supervision against the rules?” the taller deadpans, arms crossed as his fingers grasped on tightly to his book. No one ever knew of his adoration for drawing and he did not want anyone to find out. His family would disagree to his hobby, saying that he should focus on honing his royal abilities instead.

Soonyoung sees how Jihoon shrugs, still tugging on the horse as he unlocks the pen of another horse. The horse neighs softly, before nuzzling into Jihoon’s palm. The shorter blatantly points at the animal, motioning Soonyoung to mount the horse.

The prince hesitates, watching the entire process of Jihoon getting on the horse.

“It’s not life-threatening if we break these rules once in awhile,” Jihoon surprisingly answers, waiting for Soonyoung to get on the horse. 

___

The cooling breeze brushes past Soonyoung’s hair, the therapeutic sound of the hooves hitting against the ground of the racing arena. He steadily holds on the reins, eyes still locked on Jihoon who was beside him.

“So… how did you get injured?” Soonyoung feels Jihoon tense up upon the question, his horse begins to slow down and they both started to trot alongside each other. The thin layer of silence remained unsettled until Jihoon heaves a long sigh.

“My life isn’t a fairytale like yours,” Jihoon harshly retorts, deciding to stop the horse all of a sudden. Soonyoung lightly tugs at the reins, turning around to eye the shorter after hearing his words.

“Do you really think I live in a fairytale?” Soonyoung hoarsely utters and he jumps off the horse, feet already trudging back to the stables, constantly regretting that he even agreed to break the rules at the first place. He is such a great disappointment to his family, if the teachers find out, he’s just going to get expelled. Disliking Jihoon is indeed the right choice, Soonyoung wouldn’t stray away from the right decisions.

He hears Jihoon calling after him with a string of rushed apologies but Soonyoung runs back to his room, and doesn’t realise he was crying until his pillow is wet and his eyes are hurting.

___

Soonyoung wakes up from an unsettling slumber with swollen eyes and he tries to wash off the evidence of his tears with endless amount of water running from the tap. He brushes back his hair, hands weakly neatening the black strands.

He lets out a shaky breath and he looks around for his school materials which he picks up before leaving the room.

The prince locks eyes with Jihoon that morning, immediately darting away to look at the racing grounds outside of the class. Roaring cheers sounded from the stands as a student crosses the finish line with a victorious holler. Soonyoung feels the burning gaze thrown at him but he returns the look of worry with an angry look, void of any positive emotions for the other. He greatly despises how Jihoon lives his life and maybe, he just wants Lee Jihoon to disappear.

Soonyoung knows that Wonwoo figures out something is wrong by the end of the first period. His same-aged friend pats his back comfortingly when the teacher exits the room, which makes Soonyoung shake his friend off. Wonwoo finally gives up after some time when he finds out that Soonyoung is definitely not going to tell him what happened.

___

The day finally ends when Soonyoung digs through his bag to search for his drawing book, fear started to settle within him when he thinks through about the night before when he successfully completed the drawing he took so long to do.

He gasps in realisation, until a person halts beside his desk with his book in hand. The room is empty besides the two of them.

“Uh, you left it at the stables?” Jihoon mumbled, placing the item on the table.

“The book fell on the ground when you ran off, so I accidentally saw some of the pictures. It’s really beautiful,” The shorter continues, causing Soonyoung to gape at the other.

“You’ve never seen that before,” Soonyoung’s voice comes off coldly. He stuffs the book into his bag and pushes past Jihoon, leaving the class.

___

“Good evening, Mother,” he says through the mouthpiece, hands already beginning to trace out the circular shape of a face. 

“Hello, son. Good job on your school conduct. You have to keep doing well so that we can pass the throne to you without worries,” Soonyoung’s mother chided him. The usual, wanting Soonyoung to do his best, to top the cohort and not cause any problems for the family.

The call ends after Soonyoung finishes the beginning features of the person. This is the first portrait he is drawing and he abruptly pauses his pencil against the surface of the paper. The sharp end of the pencil breaks due to the added pressure, graphite dotting the paper.

Why on earth was he drawing Jihoon? He tears off the paper from the drawing pad, ripping the paper into shreds and tossing the strips away. Soonyoung was horrified, shoving his book under his pillow.

He rethinks his mother’s words in his head, a headache creeping up to him and Soonyoung collapses in bed with a throbbing pain in his head. He dozes off with the dulling thought of Jihoon in his mind.

___

The next few days went by extremely slowly, Soonyoung and Jihoon back to not talking at all. However, the looks Soonyoung throws at Jihoon are now more personal and raw. He knows Jihoon feels the hatred laced within his eyes.

Although Soonyoung is trying so hard to ignore Jihoon’s presence, he sees the male getting more bruises on his skin, the bandages becoming numerous. On worse days, Jihoon limps into class and actually sits in for etiquette lesson because he can’t bring himself to stumble out of the room without wincing in pain.

Soonyoung finds a pack of muscle ache patches in his essentials box back in his room, knocking on Jihoon’s room unknowingly. He can’t bear seeing any person in that state and he offers the box of patches to Jihoon.

Soonyoung takes note of a slight cut across his cheek as the shorter takes the box gradually. Before Soonyoung leaves, Jihoon grabs onto his arm tightly.

“Thank you.”

That night is spent with Soonyoung drawing up continuous portraits of the same male all over again, with a smile tugging on Jihoon’s lips in every drawing. Jihoon isn’t that awful of a person after all.

___

The holiday meets Soonyoung around the corner. Students attending school are allowed to travel back to greet their families for the special occasion. Soonyoung especially enjoys the day when he gets to meet his beloved brother and his parents.

Soonyoung embraces his younger brother affectionately, ears full of singing praises and wishes for Soonyoung to do better. He exchanges a few words with his father, hands clasped onto the elder.

He leaves the home before the sun sets, his parents urging him to return to the school earlier. Pecks on the cheeks are passed around and Soonyoung boards the late afternoon train to arrive to the school at evening.

The male hugs on tightly to his bag full of health products given by his family and he strolls by the empty stables to gaze at the horse that just galloped past him.

The horse goes for a full lap before it stops beside Soonyoung.

“Didn’t know anyone would be back this early,” Jihoon chuckles, sweat glistening on his forehead and he uncomfortably adjusts the helmet on his head. Soonyoung returns a soft laugh, leaning over the racing grounds to stare at Jihoon. He pats the horse gently, a gentle smile directed at the animal. 

“I overtrain myself,” Jihoon blurts out to Soonyoung and the taller looks up at the other who was on the horse.

“How I get my injuries,” the shorter softly finishes his sentence, getting off the horse.

“My parents have very high expectations of me, since I’m the Crown Prince and all,” Soonyoung confided, heart heavy at the thought of Jihoon being so honest with him.

Nodding, the shorter delicately patted Soonyoung’s hair before sheepishly pulling away when Soonyoung gawks at him in alarm.

“Your hair was messy,” he reasons, returning to the stable with the horse following after him. Soonyoung forces down the blush appearing on his cheeks, scampering back to his room.  
___

Soonyoung manages to finish up his artwork when Wonwoo knocks on the door. He shoves the book underneath his blankets, unlocking the door to flash his friend a grin.

The taller enters the room with no worry, throwing his body onto Soonyoung’s bed. Before the elder prince can react, Wonwoo is already retrieving the carelessly placed book from the bed.

Soonyoung runs over, snatching the book out of Wonwoo’s grasp. Unfortunately, Wonwoo has a stronger grip than expected and the book falls on the floor, pages wide open and exposed.

His friend widens his eyes in amazement, Jihoon’s features perfectly drawn on the paper, with the slight crinkles in his skin when he laughs.

“You drew this?” Wonwoo looks up at Soonyoung, who has already picked up the book and encloses it within his arms.

Before he knows it, Soonyoung begins to feel tears staining his cheeks. He realises Wonwoo’s comforting words in his ears when he shudders from the tears.

“Mother would never accept this, you know how my family works,” Soonyoung murmurs into Wonwoo’s chest, Wonwoo’s pullover already stained wet with tears.

“You don’t have to let her know, I’ll keep it a secret,” with a reassuring pat, Wonwoo hugs Soonyoung even tighter and lets him vent out his worries.

When Soonyoung breaks apart from the hug, Wonwoo flips back to the pages filled with Jihoon’s portraits, brows raising to question the other.

“He’s… just really pretty,” Soonyoung lamely excuses himself, shyly closing the book back.

“Thought you hated him?” With more probing, Soonyoung gasps in exasperation.

“Jihoon’s a pretty nice guy, okay?” 

___

Arriving at the stables with a skip in his step, Soonyoung feeds the horse a carrot and feels the nuzzle against his palm.

“Didn’t expect you to be here,” Soonyoung turns around to meet Jihoon, who is already prepped up in his riding gear. His eye is slightly swollen and Soonyoung realises that Jihoon winces when the sharp metal pushes past his glove as he unlocks the pen.

Soonyoung pulls off the glove from Jihoon’s hand unexpectedly, revealing a deep gash in his palm. The wound is fresh and the poor bandaging dragged over the cut is barely holding up. The taller retrieves the first-aid kit from the stables and removes the plasters off Jihoon’s palm, warning Jihoon about the incoming sting and he dabs gently at the cut.

He sees Jihoon flinch a little, another hand resting his body on the ground. Soonyoung holds the free hand, squeezing it slightly to comfort Jihoon. Soonyoung feels his own cheeks burn up at the intimacy but he keeps his head low, watching the fresh blood being wiped away.

After Jihoon’s wound is freshly bandaged, Soonyoung tugs off the other glove and presses the rest of the clean bandages into his hand.

“Take some time off from horse-riding. That wound will take ages to heal,” the elder instructs, before he fumbles in his pocket for the folded piece of paper. The paper is shoved hastily into Jihoon’s bandaged arm and Soonyoung, once again ran off. 

Soonyoung just gave Jihoon one of his drawings of the shorter… but why is he blushing so much?

___

 

Soonyoung begins to feel more at ease, his heart soaring whenever he perks up a quick grin at Jihoon as he walks past his desk, he’s still confused about that nudging feeling in his heart, but he’ll enjoy it for now.

A few weeks into the pair being cordial with one another, Soonyoung discovers a piece of paper atop of his table when he decides to report early for etiquette class. He unrolls the item, eyes scanning the words printed on the surface before he angrily tears it apart.

‘hey loverboy, maybe horse-ride somewhere when no one can see you? xxx’

The male almost chooses to skip class, the pieces of paper feeling heavy in his back pocket. When the bell for lunch rings and Jihoon has not reported to class, Soonyoung runs to his room, fist hitting the door repeatedly.

The small-framed male comes into his view moments later, his lip busted and a plaster stuck onto his forehead. His wound has not healed and Soonyoung blatantly stares back. A familiar anger bubbles in his throat and he silently gives Jihoon the shredded paper, breaths uneven and heavy.

“Why did I ever think that talking to you was a good choice?” the ruthless words that leave the taller’s mouth renders him speechless but he reflected a glare to Jihoon before he runs off.

As soon as Wonwoo asks him what’s wrong, Soonyoung bawls into his chest again, his heart burning and full of regret. His thoughts of Jihoon get meddled by the stench of disgust, his fists balling in hurt.

___

Soonyoung opts out for lessons and he spends time back home, studying the given material from his teachers and choosing to communicate more with his family. He returns home, tired from crying and he embraces himself tightly into his mother’s embrace.

That night, his brother, Seokmin enters the room, confusion etched on his lips. He joins Soonyoung on the bed as the elder stared at the cars outside of his window, longing to be back at school with his friends.

“You have never preferred home to school,” Seokmin points out and Soonyoung noticeably breathes out a sigh. His eyes still fixated at the lights from other homes and the elder becomes aware over how much he misses everyone, especially Jihoon.

“Didn’t know I could get hurt there,” Soonyoung grunted, still avoiding his brother’s eyes, fists tightly clutching his blanket. The younger motions him to continue, signalling that he is all-ears.

“I’ve always watched out for a guy in my class. Although I chose to talk to him that night I saw him horse-riding at the racing grounds. He was such wonderful guy…. and maybe I thought that my judgement was wrong, but turns out that guy is a complete douchebag,” Soonyoung removes out the reasons that may possibly leak to Seokmin finding out about his hobby outside of school subjects.

“You sure you don’t like him?” An unexpected reply comes out from his brother’s mouth and Soonyoung finally looks back at the younger, mouth agape.

‘I overtrain.’

‘Thank you for the patches.’

‘Your hair was… messy.’

A flurry of flutters erupts in his chest when Soonyoung visualises Jihoon playfully chuckling at his antics and he gasps incredulously, arms gripping onto Seokmin’s.

___

The prince returns to school, newfound hope in his chest. Soonyoung prepares a mouthful of words and the immense jitters begin to settle in his heart when he positions himself outside of Jihoon’s room.

He clears his throat multiple times, fist hovering over the door and before he decides to knock, the door opens. Soonyoung comes face to face with a disgruntled Seungcheol and when they exchange glances, the elder voices out a growl and shoves Soonyoung to the ground.

Biting his lip to not let a string of curses come out from his mouth, Soonyoung hears footsteps to the door and he still feels the sharp jabbing of Seungcheol’s fist against his abdomen. He groans out of pain until Seungcheol is unknowingly flung aside and familiar palms held his face.

The thin bandages rub against Soonyoung’s cheeks and the taller holds his ribs in agony. The numbing pain starts to fade but he fears that Seungcheol may have broken a bone or two. A pair of arms guides Soonyoung to bed and he drifts off into slumber on the soft mattress, the hushed screams of anger sounding from the hallway.

When he wakes up, a cooling pad is plastered onto his stomach and Soonyoung attempts to stretch, only wincing in return as the sharp jab of pain shoots up from his ribs. He clutches tightly onto his stomach and Soonyoung turns around on the bed to meet Jihoon’s eyes.

Jihoon quietly reapplies the medication on Soonyoung’s skin, the entire situation unfolding without any exchange of words. The shorter dabs off the remaining solution and stands up to leave, as Soonyoung grasped onto his wrist.

“Sorry, Jihoon,” he whispers, voice hoarse from the previous encounter. He sees how Jihoon’s lips lift up slightly and the way Jihoon shakes off his hand.

“C-can you just maybe keep me company?” Soonyoung hears his own voice crack vulnerably, tears spilling down his cheeks and he tries to sound fine. He hopes Jihoon will feel a tinge of pity for him just this once and maybe, Jihoon will stay.

He feels a pair of lips press against his forehead and the male exits the room. Soonyoung harshly rubs his eyes and tries to fall back asleep, wishing it was all just a bad nightmare and he’ll be home when he wakes up.

___

The room is still dark when Soonyoung opens his eyes, forcing himself to endure the pain when he gets off the bed. Desperately spamming the medicated gel on the pain, he limps out of the room and towards the stables.

It takes longer than usual to get there since Soonyoung’s walking at a terribly slow rate. He feels around his pocket for the fresh piece of paper he just folded the night before and he’s relieved the item remained there throughout his entire brawl with Seungcheol.

He catches the sound of neighing from the stables and Soonyoung takes a glimpse of Jihoon getting on the horse and trotting out onto the racing grounds. Hooves begin to hit softly against the ground and Soonyoung enjoys how Jihoon looks so at peace.

With his arm now clasped around his waist, Soonyoung proceeds to walk into the racing grounds with much difficulty, the pain begins to become much more acute and he starts to see stars in his vision.

Soonyoung weakly falls onto the ground, gasping for air. While trying to stay conscious, he becomes aware of the fact that the galloping of the horse has ceased and the air was still.

“Soonyoung! What are you doing here?” Jihoon exclaims, arm quickly wrapping around the other’s waist to support him. Soonyoung breathes out a contented smile when he tightly holds onto Jihoon’s free hand.

“I think… I’m in love with you,” with that being said, Soonyoung warmly squeezes Jihoon’s hand before he collapses in his arms, Jihoon’s cheeks flaring red.

___

Seungcheol gets sent home after the teachers find out about the incident and Soonyoung’s parents hurriedly instructed the school to get him hospitalised so that their son can recover as quickly as possible.

Soonyoung receives piles of ‘Get Well Soon!’ cards and flowers, until he finally reunites with Wonwoo and Junhui who passed him a pink card that says ‘Happy Valentine’s Day’ with sheepish laughter and bickering.

He gratefully tries to strangle his two friends in a hug but he’s basically trapped in the bed till the bones in his ribs recover. So, he chooses to lamely hi-five them and shoos them back to school since they are both skipping lessons just to visit him.

The male manages to let Wonwoo smuggle in his sketchbook so that he can draw whenever no one is around to watch him. Soonyoung lightly draws a circle, marking out the features of the face which he has come to adore so much.

Jihoon usually brings a bag of sweets to brighten up Soonyoung’s day when he comes daily at night. He ignores Soonyoung’s whines of him missing out on horse-riding and instead feeds Soonyoung a sweet.

A piece of crumpled paper is opened in Jihoon’s hands the night Soonyoung gets admitted to hospital. The bright giggle from looking at the picture is the best reaction Soonyoung can expect from the shorter, the beautiful drawing of him.

Another night is spent with Jihoon playing with the strands of hair sprawled across Soonyoung’s forehead. The taller indulges in the feeling, hand still sketching out the view he sees outside of the window. City lights glowed in the distance and Soonyoung feels at peace, the dazzling city being drawn on his paper.

“Seungcheol… wrote that threat to you. The one that you hurled at my face before disappearing,” Jihoon brings up, hands never leaving Soonyoung’s hair.

“He wanted you to stay away from me,” Soonyoung is used to how Jihoon slowly brings up the truth, slowly opening himself up to Soonyoung and he feels special to know how much Jihoon trusts him.

They both bear their hearts open, talking about their greatest fears and loves, deeply intrigued in the conversation. Soonyoung finds out about Seungcheol’s vow to protect Jihoon and how he viewed Soonyoung as a danger and the elder realises that Jihoon runs out to work part-time nafter horse-riding to support his schooling fees.

Jihoon’s parents aren’t pure royalty and many look down at him for that. Soonyoung gently rubs away Jihoon’s tears when he hears the other’s voice stammer and he promises Jihoon to grant him all the happiness in the future.

Soonyoung shares about his bad perception of Jihoon and he apologises so much for it that Jihoon once again bursts into laughter. The younger shushes him afterwards when he cracks up at the sight of pouting Soonyoung.

“I like you,” Soonyoung blurts out, with all the affection building up in his chest as he watches Jihoon laugh, because of him. The prince is on cloud nine, eyes hopefully fixed on Jihoon who stops laughing.

“You sure?” Jihoon’s timid voice replies. So, Soonyoung nods firmly, taking Jihoon’s hands into his.

“I’ll do anything for you, you know? You’ve made me a more courageous person and you let me understand that my heart matters more than the dumb princely duties I force myself to follow,” the taller confesses, his cheeks already heating up at the thought of Jihoon.

“C-can you just maybe keep me company?” Soonyoung hears his own voice crack vulnerably, tears spilling down his cheeks and he tries to sound fine. He hopes Jihoon will feel a tinge of pity for him just this once and maybe, Jihoon will stay.

He feels a pair of lips press against his forehead and the male exits the room. Soonyoung harshly rubs his eyes and tries to fall back asleep, wishing it was all just a bad nightmare and he’ll be home when he wakes up.

“I like you too, idiot. Thank you for making me feel something I didn’t know I was capable of feeling,” Jihoon’s hands brush away Soonyoung’s bangs and he caresses Soonyoung’s cheek.

___

“Mother. Father. I would like to inform you of my courtship of a boy from my school,” the prince announces over dinner, Seokmin choking on his drink and Soonyoung’s parents staring at him.

“He’s Lee Jihoon, his mother is the well-known-,” Soonyoung precariously tiptoed into the topic and Soonyoung’s mother immediately interrupting him.

“Lee Sooyoung? She’s one of my closest friends!” Soonyoung doesn’t expect that response from his mother and he receives seals of approval to get together with Jihoon. His parents usher him back to school where he finds Jihoon at the racing grounds again.

Soonyoung energetically waves to the smaller and Jihoon stops by to return a greeting. When the horse gallops off for another round, Soonyoung clambers to the stables and mounts on the horse. He smooths out the horse’s mane and trots out onto the racing grounds.

He soon catches up to Jihoon who is busying himself with petting his own horse that he gets startled by Soonyoung who reaches his side with a carrot to feed it. The carrot is devoured and both males find themselves racing around the area until they’re both sweaty and giggly.

“I so could have won you in that round!” Jihoon crosses his arms in mock disappointment when they both reach the stables and lock the horses in their respective pens. The atmosphere is bright and light, Soonyoung still buzzing from the adrenaline of the race.

Before Jihoon continues droning on about losing to Soonyoung, the taller seals their lips together. Soonyoung opens his eyes to meet Jihoon’s wide-eyed ones and as he feels Jihoon bite his own lip, Soonyoung straight up laughs into the kiss.

Jihoon pulls apart to jut his lips out playfully, Soonyoung bringing their lips together again as their noses bump and Soonyoung feels like he’s the luckiest man in the world.

A soft neigh sounds from behind them and the pair breaks off the kiss to stare at the two horses. They both whinnied as if to tease the males and Soonyoung childishly sticks his tongue out at the horses.

“May I, Crown Prince Kwon Soonyoung court you, the wonderful Lee Jihoon?” this earns Soonyoung a bashful hit from Jihoon and they both fall to the ground in each other’s arms, ready to overcome the world together. Maybe they are meant to be.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading !! kudos and comments ((( criticism too ))) are greatly appreciated <3
> 
> hmu [@twitter](https://twitter.com/chuukwan)


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